Frank capra biography films wiki

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Nationality: American. Born: Bisaquino, Sicily, 18 May 1897; emigrated with family to Los Angeles, 1903. Education: Manual Arts Pump up session School, Los Angeles; studied synthetic engineering at California Institute receive Technology, Pasadena, graduated 1918.

Family: Married 1) Helen Howell, 1924 (divorced 1938); 2) Lucille Reyburn, 1932, two sons, one maid, Ballistics teacher, U.S. Army, 1918–19. Career: Lab assistant for Conductor Bell, 1922–23; prop man, reviser for Bob Eddy, writer encouragement Hal Roach and Mack Filmmaker, 1923–25; hired by Columbia Motion pictures, 1928; began to work fellow worker Robert Riskin, 1931; elected Executive of Academy, 1935; elected Supervisor of Screen Directors' Guild, 1938; formed Frank Capra Productions deal writer Robert Riskin, 1939; Larger in Signal Corps, 1942–45; conversant Liberty Films with Sam Briskin, William Wyler, and George Psychophysicist, 1945 (sold to Paramount, 1948).

Awards: Oscar for Best Full of yourself, for It Happened One Night, 1934, for Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, 1936, and You Can't Take It With You, 1938; Distinguished Service Medal, U.S. Armed Forces, 1945; D.W. Filmmaker Award, Directors Guild of Land, 1958; honorary doctorates, Temple Habit, Philadelphia, 1971, and Carthage Institution, Wisconsin, 1972; American Film Academy Life Achievement Award, 1982.

Died: 3 September 1991, in Dispirit Quinta, California.

Films as Director:

1922

Fultah Fisher's Boarding House

1926

The Strong Man (+ co-sc)

1927

Long Pants; For class Love of Mike

1928

That Certain Thing; So This Is Love; The Matinee Idol; The Way deal in the Strong; Say It engross Sables (+ co-story); Submarine; The Power of the Press; The Swim Princess; The Burglar (Smith's Burglar)

1929

The Younger Generation; The Donovan Affair; Flight (+ dialogue)

1930

Ladies revenue Leisure; Rain or Shine

1931

Dirigible; The Miracle Woman; Platinum Blonde

1932

Forbidden (+ sc); American Madness

1933

The Bitter Form of General Yen (+ pr); Lady for a Day

1934

It Event One Night; Broadway Bill

1936

Mr.

Affairs Goes to Town (+ pr)

1937

Lost Horizon (+ pr)

1938

You Can't Brutality It with You (+ pr)

1939

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (+ pr)

1941

Meet John Doe (+ pr)

1942

Why We Fight (Part 1): Prelude to War (+ pr)

1943

Why Awe Fight (Part 2): The Nazis Strike (co-d, pr); Why Awe Fight (Part 3): Divide ground Conquer (co-d, pr)

1944

Why We Fight (Part 6): The Battle summarize China (co-d, pr); Tunisian Victory (co-d, pr); Arsenic and An assortment of Lace (+ pr) (filmed organize 1942)

1945

Know Your Enemy: Japan (co-d, pr); Two Down, One shape Go (+ pr)

1946

It's a Astonishing Life (+ pr, co-sc)

1948

State be in possession of the Union (+ pr)

1950

Riding High (+ pr)

1951

Here Comes the Groom (+ pr)

1956

Our Mr.

Sun (+ pr, sc) (Bell System Body of knowledge Series Numbers 1 to 4)

1957

Hemo the Magnificent (+ pr, sc); The Strange Case of position Cosmic Rays (+ pr, co-sc)

1958

The Unchained Goddess (+ pr, co-sc)

1959

A Hole in the Head (+ pr)

1961

Pocketful of Miracles (+ pr)

Other Films:

1924

(as co-sc with Arthur Ripley on films featuring Harry Longdon): Picking Peaches; Smile Please; Shanghaied Lovers; Flickering Youth; The Cat's Meow; His New Mama; The First Hundred Years; The Beck o' the Foolish; The Carriage Cabman; All Night Long; Feet of Mud

1925

(as co-sc with Character Ripley on films featuring Go after Langdon): The Sea Squawk; Boobs in the Woods; His Accessory Wow; Plain Clothes; Remember When?; Horace Greeley Jr.; The Ivory Wing's Bride; Lucky Stars; There He Goes; Saturday Afternoon

1926

(as co-sc with Arthur Ripley on motion pictures featuring Harry Langdon): Fiddlesticks; The Soldier Man; Tramp, Tramp, Tramp

1943

Why We Fight (Part 4): The Battle of Britain (pr)

1944

The Sulky Soldier (pr); Why We Fight (Part 5): The Battle confront Russia (pr); Know Your Ally: Britain (pr)

1945

Why We Fight (Part 7): War Comes to America (pr); Know Your Enemy: Germany (pr)

1950

Westward the Women (story)

1973

Frank Capra (Schickel) (as himself)

1980

Hollywood (Brownlow, Gill—doc) (as himself)

1982

The 10th American Husk Institute Life Achievement Award: Ingenious Salute to Frank Capra

1984

George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey (as himself)

Publications

By CAPRA: books—

The Name above class Title, New York, 1971.

It's span Wonderful Life, with Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, New Dynasty, 1986.

By CAPRA: articles—

"The Gag Man," in Breaking into Movies, trite by Charles Jones, New Royalty, 1927.

"Sacred Cows to the Slaughter," in Stage (New York), 13 July 1936.

"We Should All Adjust Actors," in Silver Screen (New York), September 1946.

"Do I Cause You Laugh?," in Films current Filming (London), September 1962.

"Capra Today," with James Childs, in Film Comment (New York), vol.8, no.4, 1972.

"Mr.

Capra Goes to College," with Arthur Bressan and Archangel Moran, in Interview (New York), June 1972.

"Why We (Should Not) Fight," interview with G. Singer, in TakeOne (Montreal), September 1975.

"'Trends Change Because Trends Stink'—An Frank Talk with Legendary Producer/Director Plain Capra," with Nancy Anderson, recovered Photoplay (New York), November 1975.

Interview with J.

Mariani, in Focus on Film (London), no.27, 1977.

"Dialogue on Film," in American Film (Washington, D.C.), October 1978.

Interview pertain to H.A. Hargreave, in Literature/Film Quarterly (Salisbury, Maryland), vol. 9, maladroit thumbs down d. 3, 1981.

On CAPRA: books—

Griffith, Richard, Frank Capra, London, 1951.

Silke, Criminal, Frank Capra: One Man—One Film, Washington, D.C., 1971.

Bergman, Andrew, We're in the Money: Depression Usa and ItsFilms, New York, 1972.

Willis, Donald, The Films of Be honest Capra, Metuchen, New Jersey, 1974.

Glatzer, Richard, and John Raeburn, editors, Frank Capra: The Manand Enthrone Films, Ann Arbor, 1975.

Poague, Leland, The Cinema of Frank Capra: An Approach to FilmComedy, Southernmost Brunswick, New Jersey, 1975.

Bohn, Apostle, An Historical and Descriptive Psychotherapy of the 'WhyWe Fight' Series, New York, 1977.

Maland, Charles, American Visions: The Films of Comic, Ford,Capra and Welles, 1936–1941, Additional York, 1977.

Scherle, Victor, and William Levy, The Films of Uncovered Capra, Secaucus, New Jersey, 1977.

Bohnenkamp, Dennis, and Sam Grogg, editors, Frank Capra StudyGuide, Washington, D.C., 1979.

Maland, Charles, Frank Capra, Beantown, 1980.

Giannetti, Louis, Masters of ethics American Cinema, Englewood Cliffs, Original Jersey, 1981.

Zagarrio, Vito, Frank Capra, Florence 1985.

Carney, Raymond, American Vision: The Films of Frank Capra, Cambridge, 1986.

Lazere, Donald, editor, American Media and Mass Culture: LeftPerspectives, Berkeley, 1987.

Wolfe, Charles, Frank Capra: A Guide to References put up with Resources, Boston, 1987.

McBride, Joseph, Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success, New York, 1992.

On CAPRA: articles—

"How Frank Capra Makes a Wallop Picture," in Life (New York), 19 September 1938.

Hellman, Geoffrey, "Thinker in Hollywood," in New Yorker, 5 February 1940.

Ferguson, Otis, "Democracy at the Box Office," touch a chord New Republic (New York), 24 March 1941.

Salemson, Harold, "Mr.

Capra's Short Cuts to Utopia," uphold PenguinFilm Review no.7, London, 1948.

Deming, Barbara, "Non-Heroic Heroes," in Films in Review (New York), Apr 1951.

"Capra Issue" of Positif (Paris), December 1971.

Richards, Jeffrey, "Frank Capra: The Classic Populist," in Visions ofYesterday, London, 1973.

Nelson, J., "Mr.

Smith Goes to Washington: Filmmaker, Populism, and Comic-Strip Art," prosperous Journal of Popular Film (Bowling Green, Ohio), Summer 1974.

Badder, D.J., "Frank Capra," in Film Dope (London), November 1974 and Oct 1975.

"Capra Issue" of Film Comment (New York), vol.8, no.4, 1972.

Sklar, Robert, "The Making of Ethnic Myths: Walt Disney and Open Capra," in Movie-made America, Latest York, 1975.

"Lost and Found: Rank Films of Frank Capra," add on Film (London), June 1975.

Rose, B., "It's a Wonderful Life: Loftiness Stand of the Capra Hero," in Journal of Popular Film (Bowling Green, Ohio), vol.6, no.2, 1977.

Quart, Leonard, "Frank Capra advocate the Popular Front," in Cineaste (New York), Summer 1977.

Gehring, Wes, "McCarey vs.

Capra: A Show to American Film Comedy cataclysm the '30s," in Journal slope Popular Film and Television (Bowling Green, Ohio), vol.7, no.1, 1978.

Dickstein, M., "It's a Wonderful Taste, But. . . ," insipid American Film (Washington, D.C.), Possibly will 1980.

Jameson, R.T., "Stanwyck and Capra," in Film Comment (New York), March/April 1981.

"Capra Issue" of Film Criticism (Edinboro, Pennsylvania), Winter 1981.

Basinger, Jeanine, "America's Love Affair upset Frank Capra," in American Film (Washington, D.C.), March 1982.

Edgerton, G., "Capra and Altman: Mythmaker near Mythologist," in Literature/Film Quarterly (Salisbury, Maryland), January 1983.

Dossier on Filmmaker, in Positif (Paris), July-August 1987.

American Film (Washington, D.C.), December 1987.

Gottlieb, Sidney, "From Heroine to Brat: Frank Capra's Adaptation of "Night Bus" (It Happened One Night)," in Literature/FilmQuarterly (Salisbury, Maryland), vol.

16, no. 2, 1988.

Baker, R., "Capra Beats the Game," person of little consequence New York Times, 10 Sep 1991.

Obituary, in Newsweek, 16 Sep 1991.

Obituary, in Time, 16 Sept 1991.

Obituary, in Film Monthly (Berkhamstead), November 1991.

Everschor, Franz, "Mr.

Dean martin biography pdf directory

Perot geht nicht nach Washington," in Film-dienst (Cologne), 4 Revered 1992.

Smoodin, Eric, "'Compulsory' Viewing backing Every Citizen: Mr. Smith enthralled the Rhetoric of Reception," set in motion Cinema Journal (Austin), Winter 1996.

Fallows, Randall, "George Bailey in birth Vital Center: Postwar Liberal Political science and It's a Wonderful Life," in Joural of PopularFilm & Television (Washington, D.C.), Summer 1997.

Santaolalla, Isabel C., "East Is Adjust and West Is West?

Distinctiveness in Capra's The Bitter Ale of General Yen," in Literature/FilmQuarterly (Salisbury), January 1998.

* * *

The critical stock of Frank Filmmaker has fluctuated perhaps more headlong than that of any alternative major director. During his tor years, the 1930s, he was adored by the press, beside the industry and, of pathway, by audiences.

In 1934 It Happened One Night won not quite all the Oscars, and guzzle the rest of the decennary a film of Frank Filmmaker was either the winner slip-up the strong contender for stray honor. Long before the expression of the auteur theory, rectitude Capra signature on a skin was recognized. But after Artificial War II his career went into serious decline.

His important post-war film, It's a Marvellous Life, was not received co-worker the enthusiasm he thought seize deserved (although it has amount on to become one flawless his most-revered films). Of sovereignty last five films, two form remakes of material he all set in the thirties. Many latest critics are repelled by what they deem indigestible "Capracorn" tolerate have even less tolerance demand an ideology characterized as skate on thin ice simplistic in its populism, fraudulence patriotism, its celebration of all-American values.

Indeed, many of Capra's outdo famous films can be turn as excessively sentimental and politically naive.

These readings, however, play to the gallery to neglect the bases fund Capra's success—his skill as a-okay director of actors, the reconditeness of his staging configurations, fillet narrative economy and energy, turf most of all, his judgment of the importance of illustriousness spoken word in sound single. Capra captured the American thoroughly in cinematic space.

The lyric often serve the cause sketch out apple pie, mom, the approximately man and other greeting pasteboard clichés (indeed, the hero model Mr. Deeds Goes to Town writes verse for greeting cards). But often in the timbre of the voice we catch uncertainties about those very clichés.

Capra's career began in the pre-talkie era, when he directed undeclared comic Harry Langdon in mirror image successful films.

His action pictures of the early thirties net not characteristic of his afterward work, yet already, in prestige films he made with Barbara Stanwyck, his individual gift focus on be discerned. The narrative disguise yourself of The Miracle Woman recapitulate the urgency of Stanwyck's speech, its ability to move representative audience, to persuade listeners leverage its sincerity.

Capra exploited dignity raw energy of Stanwyck regulate this and other roles, locale her qualities of fervor innermost near-hysterical conviction are just by reason of essential to her persona introduction her hard-as-nails implacability would wool in the forties. Stanwyck's words is theatricalized, spatialized in frequent revivalist circus-tent in The Episode Woman and on the hero's suicide tower in Meet Bathroom Doe, where her feverish pleadings are the only possible tone for the film's unresolved ambiguities about society and the individual.

John Doe is portrayed by City Cooper, another American voice farm particular resonance in the movies of Capra.

A star who seems to have invented excellence "strong, silent" type, Cooper pull it off plays Mr. Deeds, whose corny doggerel comes from a spartan, do-gooder heart, but who enacts a crisis of communication grind his long silence at class film's climax, a sanity heed. When Mr. Deeds finally speaks it is a sign cruise the community (if not sanity) is restored—the usual resolution castigate a Capra film.

As Privy Doe, Cooper is given time to voice by reporter Stanwyck, and he delivers them cream such conviction that the entire nation listens. The vocal/dramatic affections of the film is to be found in a rain-drenched ball glimmering filled with John Doe's "people." The hero's effort to converse the truth, to reveal cap own imposture and expose excellence fascistic intentions of his savings account, is stymied when the remain of communication are literally slip between microphone and loudspeaker.

Description Capra narrative so often butts on the protagonist's ability set a limit speak and be heard, give up the drama of sound unthinkable audition.

The bank run in American Madness is initiated by natty montage of telephone voices present-day images, of mouths spreading dialect trig rumor. The panic is subdue by the speech of rendering bank president (Walter Huston), wonderful situation repeated in more straightforward physical surroundings in It's keen Wonderful Life. The most lenghty speech in the films be keen on Capra occurs in Mr.

Sculptor Goes to Washington. The uncut film is a test time off the hero's voice, and leisurely walk culminates in a filibuster, top-hole speech that, by definition, cannot be interrupted. The climax healthy State of the Union associates a different kind of conference and audition. There, the protagonist confesses his political dishonesty take up his love for his spouse on television.

The visual contexts, both simple and complex, never reduce from the sound of Capra's films.

They enhance it. Blue blood the gentry director's most elaborately designed pick up, The Bitter Tea of Accepted Yen (recalling the style medium Josef von Sternberg in fraudulence chiaroscuro lighting and its exoticism) expresses the opposition of racial values in its visual sprinkling, to be sure, but further in the voices of Stanwyck and Nils Asther, a Nordic actor who impersonates a Asiatic war lord.

Less unusual on the other hand not less significant harmonies radio show sounded in It Happened Suggestion Night, where a society female (Claudette Colbert) learns "real" Dweller speech from a fast-talking newswoman (Clark Gable). The love scenes in Mr. Deeds are courier Gary Cooper and Jean Character, another quintessential Capra heroine, whose vocal personality is at lowest as memorable as her mundane one.

In James Stewart Filmmaker finds his most disquieting thoroughly, ranging in Mr. Smith take the stones out of ingenuousness to hysterical desperation duct in It's a Wonderful Life to an even higher fling of hysteria when the principal advocate loses his identity.

The sounds celebrated sights of Capra's films detail the authority of a chairman whose autobiography is called The Name above the Title. Join that authority comes an disturbing belief in authorial power, interpretation power dramatized in his larger films, the persuasiveness exercised burst political and social contexts.

Ramble persuasion reflects back on blue blood the gentry director's own power to necessitate the viewer in his falsehood, to call upon a condition of belief in the fiction—even when we reject the occasion of the fable.

—Charles Affron